Vagrants & Migrants
Temperate island life revolves around cyclical change, and these changes are reflected in the Island’s bird community. The species community can vary dramatically over the year, but also the course of a single day, as species scramble to capitalize on changes in the environment.
Waders follow the nycthemeral cycle of the tides; foraging on far-out mudflats and returning to the island’s inland wetlands to roost. Songbirds match their arrival and the intensity of their displays in line with the annual boom and bust cycle in natural productivity.
The light of some burns bright and brief. In late April, bluethroats take center stage for exuberant displays with little regard to personal safety, before disappearing back in the anonymity of the undergrowth, where hardly a sight or sound is heard of them for the remainder of the year. Others prefer more of a slow burn. Stonechats can be observed to be perched ever-watchful along the trails as long as conditions sustain them, but never too exulted or loud.
It is when conditions become too harsh for these temperate species during winter, that frost-hardened northern migrants, such as the snow bunting, arrive and exploit the scarce resources left in the cold.
Amidst all these shifts, there are certain species that provide a welcome sense of constancy. Eiders abound on the island fringes, staying tentatively out of reach just behind the surf’s break all year round. Paradoxically, it is by keeping their distance, that they never have to venture out of sight, and form a truly lasting part of the island’s landscape.